Proofpoint Identifies Top 10 Terrifying Email Blunders of 2008

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http://www.proofpoint.com/news-and-events/press-releases/pressdetail.php?PressReleaseID=219

Presidential Spam, Space Viruses and Backscatter Cause Messaging
Mayhem

Sunnyvale, Calif. – October 20, 2008 – What do Halloween and a sent
email have in common? Both can be equally frightening, according to
Proofpoint (http://www.proofpoint.com), the leading provider of
unified email security, archiving and data loss prevention solutions.
With Halloween lurking around the corner, Proofpoint has identified
some of the scariest email issues of 2008.

These blunders, attacks and mishaps have caused sleepless nights and
financial peril for consumers, corporate executives, politicians and
of course, email and IT administrators.

In no particular order, Proofpoint highlights some of this year’s
email mishaps below:

1. Phishing Fiasco
In September, it was reported that cyber-criminals were
launching fake sites for charities and asking unsuspecting consumers
for donations to help in the hurricane disaster efforts. With any
phishing site, people can be tricked and treated into revealing
financial information and often discover the fraud after it is too
late.1

The Proofpoint Attack Response Center reports that “themed”
phishing attacks continue with the latest threats preying on consumer
concerns around the global financial crisis.

2. Preying on Palin’s Email
A hacker breached the personal Yahoo! account of vice
presidential candidate Sarah Palin and revealed portions of its
content on a site called Wikileaks. Security experts note that it can
be fairly simple for a determined person to hack into a personal email
account, but concerns have been raised about Palin using her personal
email for business issues.2 David C. Kernell, son of Tennessee State
Representative Mike Kernell, was indicted earlier this month in the
case.

3. Obama’s Unsightly Spam
A malicious spam email spread in September claiming to have a
link to a sex video of Obama, but instead included spyware to steal
sensitive data from the victim’s computer.3 Current events and
sensational news headlines—both real and fictional—remain popular
subject lines for phish and spam attacks because of their potential to
lure recipients into opening the email or its attachments.

4. Emails: Dead and Buried
Oracle Corp. failed to unearth CEO, Larry Ellison’s emails that
were sought as evidence in a class-action lawsuit. According to the US
District Judge Susan Illston, Oracle should have figured out a way to
comply with the order to produce the information, which was issued in
late 20064.

5. Email Job Elimination
Carat’s chief people officer accidentally alerted staffers that
their jobs could be in peril by sending an office-wide email only
meant for senior management. Additionally, the specifics on the
talking points of their restructuring were shared5.

6. Unhealthy News Anchor Obsession
A former news anchor, smitten by his female co-anchor was
charged with hacking into her email account 537 times in 146 days,
often checking on her 10 times a day or more. He logged in from both
home and work and passed on some of the information to a Philadelphia
newspaper gossip columnist6.

7. Space Encounters
NASA found a computer virus on a laptop aboard the International
Space Station, which carries about 50 computers7. Email continues to
be one of the most common distribution methods for new viruses and
other malware, underscoring the need for organizations to deploy anti-
virus technology at the email gateway, email server and end-user
desktop levels.

8. Qualcomm’s Email Cemetery
Qualcomm got smacked with an $8.5 million penalty because it
bungled its own discovery of email relevant to a patent lawsuit with
Broadcom. As more courts require thorough discovery searches, mistakes
like these will come to the forefront8.

9. Batting Back Backscatter
Stephen Gielda, president of Paketderm, found his servers were
being inundated with a tidal wave of backscatter messages. At one
point, he was being hit by 10,000 bounce back messages per second9.

10. Angel-O-Lantern
Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo hit reply rather than forward when
typing ‘disgusting’ in response to a customer’s email. The media and
the investor community noticed Mozilo’s response. In fact, one
investor on a Web site wrote, “I hope that company gets what they
deserve10.”

“Given all of the potential risks and costs associated with email,
it’s no surprise that nearly 15 percent of IT executives that
Proofpoint recently surveyed said they would eliminate email in their
organizations if that were feasible,” said Sandra Vaughan, senior vice
president of marketing and products for Proofpoint. “But email has
evolved from a business and personal communication tool to the most
mission-critical application for most organizations. From courts of
law to the race for the presidency, email security is being taken very
seriously. And while email can cause mayhem, there are solutions
available that help organizations reduce the substantial risks posed
by both inbound and outbound email.”